


The Contrarian

by Pixeled



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Date Rape Drug/Roofies, M/M, Power Play, Rape/Non-con Elements, Slavery, Threats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-09 05:19:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16443644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixeled/pseuds/Pixeled
Summary: Of that, he was certain.Until he wasn’t certain any longer.





	The Contrarian

**Author's Note:**

> To A Perfect Circle's "The Contrarian"

Ravus didn’t know him, but something about him was familiar. This cruise, circling the city, was a bore and he realized watching the stranger was the only thing he had to do. The view of Insomnia was beautiful for the first hour, but then he was tired of cities; they were all the same to him. He longed for grass beneath his feet, sylleblossoms in his hair. There was nothing as beautiful as those rich blue flowers, except maybe his sister, or his mother, when she had been alive. He longed to see his sister, to link hands with her and be a child, carefree and spinning in the garden. What he would give to shed all his responsibilities and be free as a bird, to scatter feathers as he took off and left everything behind. Tenebrae meant darkness, but to him, it was his only light. Light was now his darkness, as he was steeped in duty, his coat buttoned up to his chin, his back straight, his hand flirting with the pommel of his sword. He had his reasons for going to Insomnia, but deep inside, he wished he’d never come. Peace. What a joke. He didn’t want peace—he wanted blood. He wanted Lucis to pay for his mother’s death.

He didn’t drink—he found it to be undignified and often curled his lip at the way drunkards acted around him. He was always the one who abstained, the one that kept things tight-laced and buttoned up. He lost count at the amount of times he’d held back someone’s hair as they’d thrown up, splashing water on their faces and making them stand up straight in front of superiors only to be thrown in the back of vehicles and brought to their camp to sleep it off.

Ravus had been in barracks, had been in camps, had crawled dirty through the mud and let the rain pound on him while he fought. Ravus knew what it meant to end a life, to hold something that fragile in his hand and crush it. He’d strangled the breath from the living, plunged his sword into the hearts of men and women of every creed. With every death he’d sought his revenge. His eyes had even skimmed the cruise party to see if that man was here. General Glauca. But he didn’t know his face. Had only gazed upon his helm, his armament.

He shook his head, letting his focus drain from his revenge and instead let his sadness down like a mantle. Everyone around him was laughing, including him, the charismatic stranger. He had swept into a bow several times, his hat coming off his head to instill honor. Subconsciously he was moving closer to that stranger. Why had he never met with him? He seemed important somehow.

Ravus mostly kept to himself, and few wanted to strike up conversation with him, as his banter was dry, devoid of mirth. Mirth seemed to be the only currency here, and he was lacking. He was a man of few words. Despite that fact, he was rising through the ranks rapidly. There were many eyes on him. And that was why he was here, as a showpiece. He knew his worth, his purpose as the whore of the Imperial army. There was no shortage of important people here. He should feel honored, but instead he felt like a show horse on display.

There were only so many people on this boat, and eventually the stranger’s eyes caught his. It must have been boredom. One could only speak to the Emperor of Niflheim so much. The stranger seemed to be driven by constant motion, constant litany and speech. He swept down the stairs and, eyes never leaving Ravus’s, came closer. His hair was almost artfully disheveled beneath the brim of his hat, a reddish brown, a stark difference from Ravus’s carefully arranged silver hair. And his eyes were a hazel that he swore shifted yellow for a moment before he blinked. His dress was entirely ridiculous, conflicting patterns and textiles. And he sported a large black wing which draped over his arm. Whether weapon or decoration he did not know, but something about the man repelled and fascinated him at the same time. In his free hand which did not clutch at the wing, he held a glass of ruby colored wine which he swirled around as he stopped in front of Ravus. He settled the wine on the table in front of them and swept his hat off, clutching it to his chest.

“Ah, Brigadier General Ravus Nox Fleuret. Ardyn Izunia. I assume you’ve heard things about me, but have never seen my face?” he asked, silky smooth.

“Chancellor of Niflheim,” Ravus almost spat, keeping still, his back rigid, his hand still flirting with the pommel of his sword. Even though there were only Imperials on this boat, they were still in enemy territory, and it made him nervous and edgy. And even though Chancellor Izunia was technically on their side he felt like he was walking into a pit of vipers by even engaging the man in talk.

“What a warm welcome,” Ardyn laughed. “Though my position is relatively new, I can assure you I am old in the way of magitek and am well-versed in military positioning. And I can say with some assurance I am watching you carefully and have a hand in an upcoming promotion,” Ardyn winked.

“Then it is good that we have finally met,” Ravus said, looking Ardyn up and down. His face was stubbled, and his clothes were too big. Ravus, by contrast, was perfectly shaved and his clothes were tailored for his body. Ardyn had an oil slick smile, the kind that a snake might wear. Still, Ravus searched his eyes for some semblance of humility. He found none. Ardyn only moved closer and replaced his hat on his head, taking his wine in his hand again. The glass was stemless and fit perfectly in his palm to warm it up, to swirl it around. He pressed closer still, as if the tinny voices of those on the boat were too loud, and his next words a secret. He pressed so close that Ravus almost backed away.

“I’ll have you bedded soon, on your back. You cannot say no if you want the title of High Commander,” Ardyn whispered in his ear lowly. Then he moved his face away and gave a sinister smile. Below the table he took Ravus’s hand and brought it up to his lips to kiss. “I knew your mother. She was lovely. Sad was I to hear she burned up like ash. Still, her treasured children live on in her stead. How proud she would be to see how well you are doing.”

Ravus felt his face heat up, his chest heave beneath his armament. He’d never felt so threatened and yet so powerless in all his life. And yet he knew he could not say no to Ardyn. He was a man he could not cross. It wasn’t new—to have a man of power try to bed him. But never one so high up as Ardyn Izunia. The chancellor was supposed to be the voice in the ear of Emperor Iedolas Aldercapt. Indeed, Iedolas Aldercapt was on this boat, but Ravus had little care for men of power. He simply did what he must do, and he knew he did it well. He felt rage bubble up his stomach and then his throat, quelling a scream. He had to remain calm, he had to keep his head.

“Do you not speak?” Ardyn asked, the corners of his mouth quirking up. “Perhaps I can sort out a drink for you—loosen that tongue of yours, as I’m afraid the cat’s got it.”

Ravus shook his head. “I don’t—” he started, but Ardyn pressed a half-gloved finger to Ravus’s lips.

“You’ll take a Vodka. Neat—I know you are no nonsense. I happen to know this one hails from Tenebrae. Made with sylleblossoms. How sweet, a treat from your home. You will drink it.” And then Ardyn disappeared to go procure this drink. He returned with a glass. It was tinted blue, true to the heart if its ingredients, and Ravus took it, their hands brushing somewhat. It made him shiver. He wondered, passively, what he’d put in it, as not even a few minutes after he’d begun drinking it, he felt woozy.

Ardyn could tell when Ravus felt the full effects of the liquor which had been sprinkled with medicine to make him drowsy, and he took the drink from his hand before it crashed to the floor, putting his arm around the silver-haired man’s shoulder.

“Come now,” Ardyn told him in a sickly-sweet voice. He was calculating, a blanket of warmth that alcohol gave. But beware, his smile would cost you everything.  “I will see you to your room.” And he did, walking him to the hotel he’d checked into earlier that day. He artfully arranged Ravus on his bed, and before Ravus could even protest, he’d stripped him of his sword, which was carefully placed against the door to the closet. He pulled off his boots, socks, and the rest of his armor and coat, stripping him completely, so that he was bare-chested and laid only in his underwear. He groaned, his head swimming, and he tried to sit up, but Ardyn pressed him back down into the warm sheets.

“High Commander has a nice ring to it, does it not, Brigadier General?” Ardyn asked, trailing little circles over Ravus’s ribs.

“This’s wrong,” Ravus slurred, trying in vain again to sit up. Ardyn only pressed him down into the sheets again and leaned over him to kiss him softly, almost chastely.

“When it’s time,” Ardyn said against the shell of Ardyn’s ear, “you will come to me and I will have you. But only when you come to me. Understand? You want this position. You want to protect your dear sister. You will have power. You will have everything you want. You just have to come to me, dear Ravus Nox Fleuret.” And then he was gone from the room, just like that. Ravus felt his head swim and his eyes closed. He slept until there was a pounding on his door. He was expected at some function. He brushed his teeth, styled his hair, dressed quickly and went out the door. He refused to believe that his rise to High Commander was riding on his being bedded by Ardyn Izunia.

Months passed. He was back in Niflheim, had visited his sister briefly, and then was back to the barracks. He fought hard, trying hard to make himself stand out with his merit alone. He was charming only to his sister, who loved him dearly and wished she didn’t have to see him in bits and pieces. But he told her he was fighting for her, left her with pieces of silver and gold from different parts of Eos, and went on about his way.

The fight consumed him.

Then one day, Ardyn was at the camps. Amidst the bombs and the aerial assaults as well as the ground attacks, there he was in his own aircraft carrier. It settled among the camps and he came out, waving a white piece of cloth which he used to wipe under his eyes as if to catch tears.

“It moves me to see you all fighting so gloriously for the empire,” he said, as theatrical as ever. Around him, whispers crept along like a roiling wave that Ardyn was there to announce the next location they were to fight. They would have to pick up the camp they’d set up and take to the skies once more. And then there were whispers that Ardyn was there for Ravus. The rumors started the night Ardyn was seen practically carrying the Brigadier General to his room. Seeing him appear drunk had certainly sparked some controversy. Ravus had acted like nothing at all had transpired, but talk that Ardyn had bedded him spread like wildfire. Those that dared make comments were battered within an inch of their lives. Though he gave orders now, Ravus still knew how to make a man beg for mercy, and, in some cases, even beg for death. Still, the rumors made Ravus feel weak. He had shown weakness, had displayed his underbelly to the world. Even though he’d always tried to hide his humanity, his tie to his dear sister had always been his weakness. Though she was heavily guarded, he often was seen pacing in his free time, calling her and confirming that she was safe. It was, his men said, his one tie to humanity, as they had seen him become bestial in the warzone. And like humanity was, they looked for flaws, and one was that he had supposedly succumbed to Ardyn.

“I come with good tidings from Emperor Iedolas Aldercapt,” Ardyn said, spreading his arms wide, talking with a timber to his voice that urged those around him to listen. He exuded power, he exuded the ability to crush someone with only a withering look, as he was the hand that feeds. “Where is Ravus Nox Fleuret?” he asked, his smile wide.

That was when Ravus opened the flap to his tent, the fabric loud even with the sound of engines whirring, of bombs soaring through the sky and finding their target. All eyes were on Ardyn and Ravus, wondering.

“Ah, my dear Ravus,” Ardyn started, ushering him over to him with a few flicks of his fingers. “Don’t be shy. Come with me, and I will make it worth your while. Caligo,” Ardyn said, pointing at the man, “do be a good man and run things while I talk to our own Ravus,” he said, draping his arm over Ravus and ushering him inside his aircraft carrier. When the doors closed, Ravus immediately moved away from Ardyn, his eyes adjusting to the low light. He could make out a partition between the front where someone, presumably one of the magitek armymen, was flying the thing and the space they were now in. There was a table, a cabinet, and what looked like a stiff couch. Ardyn walked slowly over to the cabinet, smirking as he looked at Ravus. “Ravus, my dear, I have a proposition for you. Would you like to hear it?” Ardyn asked as he pulled out two glasses and poured wine in both of them. He took one glass and extended the other toward Ravus but then switched hands and glasses, smiling coyly.

“I don’t drink,” Ravus said, turning his nose up at the offering. “Especially not after what you did to me the last time you offered me a drink.”

“Why, Ravus, I’m offended. I did you no harm. Not really. Perhaps you were wounded by the rumors? You heard them of course, did you not?”

Ravus took the drink and tossed it at Ardyn, smashing the glass on the floor and standing rigid. Ruining all those clashing patterns made Ravus feel somewhat better about his predicament, but of course, the worst was yet to come.

“Oh, it appears I have offended my host,” Ardyn said, his shark’s smile growing wider as he undid his scarf, coat, and cravat, taking off his stark white accordion-style shirt next. Before Ravus knew it, he was bare-chested before him, and taking a long sip from his wine glass, which he settled down on the table. “Shall we get you more comfortable as well?” Ardyn asked, stepping closer and thumbing one of the buttons which held Ravus’s high-collared coat over him.

“Chancellor,” Ravus said in warning, but Ardyn paid no attention, thumbing the button open, and then the next one, and the next, fingers moving over the steel which held the sides together to pry each one open until he came to his belts. He stepped closer then and inhaled Ravus’s scent.

“Ravus, are you ready to hear the proposition?” Ardyn asked. Ravus was already moving his hands to refasten his coat. Ardyn stilled his hands, holding them in an iron grip. Ravus tried to free himself, but he found that he was powerless to stop Ardyn. The man only twisted his arm and dragged him bodily to the couch, where he dumped Ravus unceremoniously. “So difficult. I do enjoy a challenge, but you are trying my patience. Now, Ravus,” he said, leaning to tap his finger to Ravus’s nose. “Ask me. What the proposition is.”

“What is it?” Ravus asked, his light eyes going stormy gray.

“I told you something on that boat, did I not?” Ardyn asked, tilting his head and sitting beside Ravus, taking his belts and sword away, tossing them carelessly aside.

“I won’t repeat it,” Ravus said adamantly, looking away. Ardyn pressed in closer, pinning Ravus against the couch, his mouth a mere inch from his.

“I told you I would get you on your back. And then you’d become High Commander. Isn’t that the gist of it, hmm?”

“I won’t,” Ravus hissed, moving his face again, but Ardyn grabbed his chin and made him face him.

“You will,” Ardyn said. “I have it on good authority that my soldiers are protecting Lady Lunafreya. What if something tragic were to happen to her?” he threatened. Ravus went even whiter than he was now.

“You wouldn’t. She’s the sworn Oracle. The people need her,” Ravus said desperately, trying to move away, but Ardyn had effectively blocked him in.

“Oh, the people would forget,” Ardyn said. “There is little faith in the gods these days, or did you forget that? Daemons . . . now that’s a motivation the people have. The days grow shorter, the nights longer, and the gods . . . where the bloody hell are they?” Ardyn asked.

“The gods will save us,” Ravus said, hearing belatedly how stupid it must sound to a man like Ardyn, who made his own destiny. He didn’t need the gods. He had Iedolas Aldercapt. Ardyn laughed.

“You are much stupider than I thought you were if you think the gods will move for you,” Ardyn said, and then he yanked Ravus’s coat down and off him, a hand going in his hair to pull his head back sharply. “Submit to me, and I will make it worth your while.”

Ravus fought with him, but found that he was unnaturally strong. How was he in possession of such strength? Ravus was able to fight off practically anyone at this point, knowing that if he’d ever meet General Glauca he could hold his own in a fight. But somehow Ardyn was stronger than him. And he had no choice but to stop struggling. Ardyn moved his face close to Ravus’s and slid his fingers around his throat as he kissed him deep and slow.

“You’ll kiss back,” Ardyn said, his tone a threat. Ravus shook his head no, and Ardyn tightened his hand around his throat, just tight enough to block off his windpipe, but not to crush it. Ravus clawed at that hand, eyes rolling back, and Ardyn stopped just short of making Ravus pass out. “you’ll kiss back,” he repeated. Ravus slowly moved his head closer to Ardyn’s, placing his lips on his, kissing chastely. Ardyn laughed. “Bite my tongue and you’ll regret it,” he said, kissing back deeply and sliding his tongue inside Ravus’s mouth. Ravus made the mistake of whimpering, to which Ardyn growled and pressed Ravus up against the back of the couch, hand sliding down and kneading between Ravus’s legs.

“Stop,” Ravus gasped, but he was already responding to the stimulation.

“You’re getting hard,” Ardyn purred, undoing Ravus’s pants and sliding his hand inside to stroke his cock. Ravus’s head fell back against the couch and he moaned, Ardyn smiling. “Ah, but you want to be overpowered. You need it. Crave it. I can give it to you.”

Soon Ravus had his pants pulled down around his ankles and his cock was leaking precome as Ardyn stroked him. His head was rolled back against the couch and he was bucking into the touches, desperate for more. Ardyn watched, reveling in it.

“Do you want more?” Ardyn asked. Ravus defiantly looked at him, but he realized how he must look, moaning for him like a whore. “I do confess I wanted you to come to me, but I could not hold out any longer. I wanted you very badly, Ravus.”

“I want you to stop,” Ravus whispered.

“Mmm, couldn’t hear you, Ravus. Besides, you’re getting nice and ready for me to give you more. Tell me, am I the first to defile you?”

“Like I’d tell you that,” Ravus said, looking away.

Ardyn pulled his face back by his chin and kissed him deeply. “You’d do well to realize the stakes here. I can have your sister killed in a nanosecond and your career? Over in an instant.”

“Why are you so strong?” Ravus asked bitterly. It was all true and he knew it.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Ardyn said, playing coy. Next he pressed two fingers to Ravus’s lips and instructed him to suck. “Bite my fingers and suffer the consequences,” he said. Ravus had no choice but to suck on them, closing his eyes so he didn’t have to see the smug look on Ardyn’s face, but then he told him to open his eyes then too. Now he was sucking on Ardyn’s fingers, coating them with saliva, looking at him with hatred in his eyes. He knew where this was going and he was starting to panic, but he couldn’t show it. He couldn’t bite those fingers because he loved his sister greatly and didn’t want to see her come to her end because he couldn’t make a sacrifice. Of course, he realized, that he’d have to make this type of sacrifice over and over, and it made him feel sick.

Ardyn took his fingers away from Ravus’s mouth and stabbed them both in between Ravus’s legs, not giving him a chance to get used to the stretch of them inside him before he started fucking him with them. Ravus cried out, but knew no one who could hear cared. Still, he never stopped struggling, even as Ardyn replaced his fingers with the blunt end of his cock, which he thrust inside Ravus with all brutality. This time Ravus screamed. Ardyn reveled in it, kissing his neck, kissing his mouth, pulling his hair back hard to get at his throat and bite.

When it was done, Ravus realized there were tears in his eyes. But he swore this wouldn’t break him.

Of that, he was certain.

Until he wasn’t certain any longer.


End file.
